Wolf Interrupted
by Windblown.child
Summary: Sometimes, important things in the universe forget to happen. End of Season 1


"Take me back! Take me back!" Rose pleaded with the TARDIS but sentient or not, the ship remained locked on its destination.

As the groaning and shuddering stopped, Rose dreaded what she would find outside the narrow wooden doors. Desperate to return to the moment where Jack and the Doctor fought for their lives and the future of humankind, she fumbled at the controls and begged the machine to fly. But no matter what she did, the TARDIS remained exactly when and where it was. When the tears stung her eyes and she could no longer see the console, Rose collapsed in the booster seat and sobbed.

It could have been minutes or hours later that frantic pounding on the door reached her ears. She contemplated ignoring the sound, but she finally fought off her emotional exhaustion enough to open the door. Jackie and Mickey looked expectantly into the TARDIS but their faces fell when they saw Rose's tear streaked face.

"Oh sweetheart, what happened?" Jackie threw her arms around her distraught daughter and made soothing hushing noises until Rose pulled away to embrace Mickey.

Being held by her boyfriend didn't alleviate any of the sorrow in her heart, however. His arms were too loose and his hands fell in the wrong place. The tears began again as she realized she would never again breathe in the tantalizing scent that was the Doctor, all excitement and ozone and something uniquely him. Mickey finally lead the blonde away from the ship. He was at a loss for what to do, wasn't sure what had happened. All the young man knew was the Doctor was gone and the lights were going out in the control room.

* * *

An hour later, Rose finally managed to get out the story of being unexpectedly transported to the satellite and the deadly games they had survived. She looked down at her chips and tried to fight back another wave of tears. They had chips on their first date, so long ago. The fried potatoes would always remind her of the Doctor and the life she had shared with him. Jackie patted her daughter's hand lovingly.

"God knows I never liked that Doctor dragging you off in that box, but he sent you back to me and that makes him alright in my book."

Rose wanted to shout that he was much more than alright but she couldn't draw up the energy to defend him. What did it matter what her mother thought while he was dieing two hundred thousand years in the future. Drained and desperate to escape Jackie's constant talking, the young woman wordlessly fled the little chip shop only to realize that she had nowhere to go. Without her direction, her feet lead her back to the estates and the corner where the TARDIS sat.

Unable to bear looking at the blue box, Rose turned away and continued walking. Ten minutes later she was faced with the TARDIS again. The blonde exclaimed in frustration and fled in the opposite direction, careful to not double back accidentally. When she stopped running, she sat on a low wall and let the tears fall again. All the pink and yellow girl wanted was to return to the Gamestation and her Doctor, but there was no way to make the TARDIS fly without the Time Lord. Rose knew he had locked the controls to save her, but that didn't make her heart hurt any less.

With the sun beginning to set, she hopped down off the wall, ignoring the graffiti and headed back towards the estates. Once faced with the tall housing complex, the exhausted rose couldn't bring herself to deal with her mother and decided she was not quite ready to let go of the Doctor. She slipped inside the TARDIS, wrapping her arms tight around herself. The bigger-on-the-inside ship made her feel safe as always, but the lights were dim and the usual hum of the engines was silent. Despite the oddness, Rose fell asleep in her bed in moments.

* * *

For one glorious moment, Rose stretched her arms above her head, letting sleep slide from her mind. But when the Doctor didn't burst through her bedroom door the moment she woke up as was his habit, she remembered that she was alone. Sighing wearily, Rose gathered her things and left the dark and silent TARDIS. Locking the door behind her somehow felt final, like she was giving up too early.

Knowing that the ship was telepathic, Rose sent a thought in its direction. "I will come back. I promise." Not expecting any kind of response she returned to the flat she hadn't thought of as home in a long time.

Rose set about returning to the life she had lived before meeting the Doctor. She got up, caught the bus, went to work, came back home, ate chips, and went to bed. Each day was a constant battle to force away memories of the strange alien that had changed her boring life around. Occasionally, she was overrun by the memories she avoided and the only way she knew how to cope was to visit the TARDIS on the corner.

The lingering scent of time travel and the Doctor always drew tears from her eyes, but she felt lighter after. Eventually, human nature pushed the memories of traveling through time and being the Doctor's companion from the front of her mind, taking the sting of loss with. Allowing Rose to continue on with her boring life as if she had never left.

* * *

No one questioned the young woman's year long absence, but Jackie kept a close eye on her daughter. She knew Rose was experiencing the same pain she had when she lost Pete. The only thing that had kept Jackie going was her young daughter, but without the Doctor, Rose was alone. There would never be anyone else for Rose, but she lived when a lesser person would have given up and died. Jackie Tyler was damn proud of her daughter.

* * *

Rose slapped at the clock buzzing insistently by the bed until it was silenced. As always, her first thought of the day was of a northern sounding alien she was almost convinced was a dream. Looking in the mirror she was shocked at the wrinkles around her eyes and the grey in her once blonde hair. Somewhere along the line of trying to survive each day, years had passed. Exhaustion washed over the woman and she didn't fight it for once. Old and grey, there was nothing to fight for any more.

Nothing remained of her old life and suddenly she wanted to see the TARDIS. She couldn't remember the last time she had entered the ship. The estates had long since been replaced with shining towers of glass and steel. Mickey had met some young doctor and had several children. Jackie had passed quietly in her sleep and Rose just existed. But the blue box stood like a proud sentinel on the corner.

When she opened the door, it took several long moments for the lights to come up even a little. All of the memories came rushing back as if it had been only days and not decades. Rose sunk into the jumpseat, feeling the rush of running with the Doctor again, the warmth of his hand around hers. Home at last, she laughed even as tears ran down her cheeks. But the sound soon felt out of place in the absence of engines. She sat in the endless silence until her eyes grew heavy and she curled up in the wide seat. Rose Tyler fell asleep and dreamed of the stars and the man that showed them to her.

The TARDIS doors opened and a tall man strode up to the control panel. He caressed the unmarked dials and levers, coaxing life into the engines once more. Only when the lights came all the way up did he see her slumped in the seat. The Doctor touched his most faithful companion's cheek gently. She had promised him forever and that was she had given.


End file.
